Sacrifice
by CodeNameTargeter
Summary: Four year after Anakin Skywalker turned to the Dark Side, seven young Naboo women have still managed to survive. Even their Lady, Padmé Amidala is still eluding Imperial capture, despite the various bounties placed on her by Darth Vader. Three chance me
1. Padmé

Title: Sacrifice br  
  
Author: NicolaAfyon br  
  
Rating: Pg-13 br  
  
Pairings: Yané /Obi-Wan, Rabé/OC Eirtaé/Valin Halcyon br  
  
Summary: br  
  
Four year after Anakin Skywalker turned to the Dark Side, seven young Naboo women have still managed to survive. Even their Lady, Padmé Amidala is still eluding Imperial capture, despite the various bounties placed on her by Darth Vader. Three chance meetings on Naboo, Alderann, and Corellia, will reunite them all for the first time in three and a half years.  
  
Sabé and Rabé have been on Naboo, playing decoy once more for Amidala.  
  
Eirtaé has been living on Corellia, a member of CorSec, working to secretly help the remaining Jedi  
  
Dormé has stayed with her Lady, her constant bodyguard and protector.  
  
Saché is a spy in the Imperial's mist, a seemingly mindless party girl whose concealing a lot beneath.  
  
Yané has been keeping watch on Tantooine over Luke Skywalker, and becoming rather good friends with Obi-Wan Kenobi.  
  
Together, these six women must outthink Vader to protect Padmé, even if it costs them their lives.  
  
Chapter 1: Padmé  
  
Padmé Amidala Naberrie Skywalker, former Queen and later Senator of Naboo, sighed as she watched Alderaan's sun set. It was her children's lifeday. Little Luke and Leia turned four today. Luke, she had only seen in the few holos that made their way to her every six or seven months and Leia, whom she hadn't seen in a year. She could go see Leia rather easily if she wanted, as they were both living on the same side of Alderaan. But she didn't dare put her daughter's life in danger, not with . him after her.  
  
Him. The man who had once been Anakin Skywalker, her husband, and who was now the feared Sith Lord, Darth Vader, who was all but a stranger to her.  
  
She wanted her Ani back again, the man she had fallen in love with, not some hunk of machinery who was the Emperor's right hand.  
  
"Milady? Are you alright?" That was Dormé's soft melodic voice behind her, the only one of her handmaidens still with her. The last she had heard, a year ago, Sabé and Rabé had been on Naboo to try and lure the Empire away from her. Seven years ago, Eirtaé had contacted her briefly to say that she was joining the Corellian Security Forces to aid the Jedi there. When she had last heard from the woman two years ago, she was still with CorSec, except now she was helping the Jedi lie low and stay in hiding. Yané had last been heard of four years ago when she was taking little Luke to his new parents, and Saché had all but disappeared. The rest were dead in her service, Cordé, Versé, and others who remained unnamed.  
  
A hand touched her shoulder. "Milady?"  
  
Coming out of her reverie, Padmé turned around to face Dormé, a slight smile on her face. "I'm sorry Dormé, I was just thinking about my children."  
  
The woman nodded. "It's is there lifeday today, yes?"  
  
Padmé merely nodded, not truly trusting herself to speak. Dormé smiled slightly at her. "You'll see them again someday, Milady. I just know you will."  
  
The former Senator gave her handmaiden a brief hug before giving her a mock scolding. "I thought we were supposed to drop the "Milady" business. I'm just plain Padmé now."  
  
Dormé nodded again, saying, "Yes Milady," before ducking her head to hide the grin on her face.  
  
Padmé laughed, the first true laugh in many a week. "I'm glad you've stayed with me, Dormé, more glad than you could ever possibly know."  
  
The two women turned and walked inside to sit on a couch. The wind blew the door shut behind them, causing both of them to jump. Dormé unsheathed a slender Nubian blaster and shoved Padmé behind her as Padmé drew her own blaster. They breathed a sigh of relief as they saw it was merely the door slamming shut. Both of their nerves were highly strung so that even the smallest noise could put them on high alert. Much like it had been six years ago during the search for the assassin. Except now there were no Jedi. Except now there was no Captain Typho and his team. Except now there was a government and a Lord of the Sith after her.  
  
Dormé resheathed her blaster and turned to look at her with a concerned expression on her face. "We're both so uptight, Milady. I'd feel more comfortable with more people to protect you here. If the Imperials were to attack, I would not be able to defend you on my own."  
  
Padmé looked helplessly at Dormé. "No, I cannot ask Captain Panaka or his nephew for help. They have already given too much for me."  
  
"I do not speak of the Captain and his men, milady."  
  
Padmé lowered her eyelids, trying to decipher Dormé's comment. Her lids flew up as the answer came to her. "No, no! I can't Dormé, I can't. They have their own lives now. They too have given much for me."  
  
Dormé shook her head and placed a hand on Padmé's shoulder. "No Milady, we haven't. Even though I remain with you, I still count myself among their number."  
  
"But Sabé and Rabé, they-"  
  
"They remain on Naboo to create a diversion. To steer the Empire away from you."  
  
"I do not even know if Yané and Saché have survived. And Eirtaé-"  
  
"Milady, please see reason. Eirtaé has always been willing to place her life on the line for something that she believes, in as she does now on Corellia. And knowing Saché, she's probably worked her way into the life of a courtier to help our cause, and Yané's still watching over Luke, most likely."  
  
Padmé turned away from her handmaiden and went back outside to the small balcony. Tears welled up in her eyes. All of this was her fault. If she had never fallen in love with Anakin, he wouldn't have turned to the Dark Side and they'd all still be living happily on Naboo.  
  
Reaching into the neck of her dress, she pulled out the necklace she wore. The same one she had worn since she was 14. The one Anakin had carved from a japor snippet.  
  
Fingering it as she always did when worried, she turned to face Dormé once more, eyes glassy. The older woman nodded in understanding at the bittersweet expression on her face.  
  
"I cannot ask more people to give their lives for me. Over half of you have fallen for me."  
  
Clasping Padmé's shoulder once more, she said firmly, "Milady, you do not need to ask us. Once a handmaiden, always a handmaiden. Any of us would've died for you at Geonosis, or Naboo, or on Coruscant or any other battle you're gotten yourself into. Sabé especially. She was you in some respects, the one the assassins could shoot at so we could keep you safe."  
  
"Was the fact that Sabé would take the laser fire while I hid suppose to comfort me?"  
  
"It was suppose to prove to you that we trust and follow you, that we will live and die for you."  
  
Padmé squeezed her eyes shut, struggling with the decision. Opening them again, she looked directly into Dormé's eyes. "Alright, fine. Bring Sabé and Yané on planet then."  
  
To her surprise, Dormé shook her head. "No Milady, Eirtaé or Rabé. They're both better shots than Yané, or at least Eirtaé still should be after seven years in CorSec."  
  
She nodded. "Alright, Eirtaé and Sabé then. Sabé's the best in impersonating me."  
  
"But they need Sabé on Naboo to keep up the façade of you being there."  
  
Padmé shot a look at Dormé. "Alright, Dormé, what are you hiding from me?"  
  
The older woman placed a hand on her chest and pretended to look shocked. "Me? Nothing, Milady!"  
  
But a grin had already peaked through and Padmé knew her handmaiden was lying. "You never were a good liar, Dormé. I can tell that someone's here. Just bring him or her out already!"  
  
With a smile, the handmaiden nodded, bowed, and then disappeared out of the room. She came back moments later with a hooded and cloaked person behind her.  
  
Padmé furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out who it could be. Not Eirtaé, the woman here was too short. Not Saché, the girl had a particular swing to her step that eliminated her. And Dormé had said that Yané was most likely still with Luke..  
  
That left only Sabé or Rabé.  
  
The woman reached her hands up to pull back the hood of her cloak, revealing a pair of well-tanned hands. Padmé sucked in her breath as the hood was lowered, anxious to see which of her old friends it would be. 


	2. Saché

Chapter 2: Saché  
  
Saché Obarao cursed the day that she had chosen to come to Coruscant, or excuse her, [i]Imperial Center,[/i] as it was now called, and join Palpatine's Court as a "loyal" member of the Empire. The Empire that had destroyed the Republic she had known. The Empire that had destroyed the life of her Lady. The Empire which had separated her from her "sisters." The Empire that had ruined the life of Saché Obarao and given birth to Salla Tarrai, the loyal, young, beautiful, yet mindless member of Palpatine's Court.  
  
It had pained her to think of her Lady living in poverty while she was in the lap of luxury. Of course, she wasn't in the Court for her own enjoyment.  
  
No, she was a spy for the Senator from Chandrila, Mon Mothma. The young Senator was one of the three leaders of a secret rebellion, Garm bel Iblis from Corellia, and Bail Organa of Alderaan being the other two.  
  
Mothma had tracked Saché down approximately three and a half years ago. Apparently, "handmaiden" on your resume meant a lot more to some than it did for others. It was a dangerous job, the Senator had made no secret of that. If she was caught, she'd be tried and duly executed. The only thing they had to decide was how her death was to come about.  
  
But she didn't have time for these thoughts at the moment. Instead, she needed to be concentrating on memorizing the people at the Emperor's table. Amidala had once said that Saché had one of the best memories that she'd ever encountered. And now, she was putting it to good use here on Corellia.  
  
She smoothed down the fabric of her pale yellow dress and fanned herself with a hand. If anything, these little gatherings could cause you to lose about ten pounds just through sweat. She caught sight of several young men sending flirtatious looks her way, though none yet had yet gotten the stomach to get up and go over to ask her to dance.  
  
Her dress, as she had said, was made of a stunning yellow fabric, much like the shade and type that one of her old handmaiden robes had been made of. The dress was daringly low, as was the fashion now, and the straps crisscrossed all the way down her back to meet at the fabric edge. There was a slit in the skirt part that ran up to her knee and her hair was placed in such a fashion that it would've made Rabé proud.  
  
As she waited for one of the truly mindless courtiers to ask her to dance, she cast her gaze around the room, observing the Corellian Security, CorSec for short, Officers placed in guard positions around the room, two at every doorway.  
  
One pair, a man and a woman, caught her eye in particular. The man had something familiar in the way he stood and held himself that reminded her of the Jedi and the woman looked strangely familiar. In fact, so familiar that her name was on the tip of Saché's tongue, yet it could not be paired with its owner. Finally, one of the young men got up his courage and asked her to dance. Seeing him be accepted, the others' courage was rallied and each took his dance with "Lady Salla" and then reluctantly passed her on to the next waiting partner.  
  
About two standard hours later, Saché finally managed to excuse herself from the crowd of young men, pleading aching feet, She stood by the entrance where the two CorSec who had caught her eye were posted, sipping a drink. She looked at the woman's face more carefully. And then, it hit her.  
  
"Eirtaé? Eirtaé Bukoro?"  
  
The woman tensed up and her grip on her blaster grew tighter. "You've got the wrong person, Lady Salla. My name is Zena Denes."  
  
The man, Hal Horn according to his badge, looked strangely at her, as if she had gone mad.  
  
Saché frowned slightly. She knew that this woman was her old friend and fellow handmaiden Eirtaé. And then, she remembered. Eirtaé was in CorSec and supposedly serving under an assumed name. If this "Zena" was in CorSec, than she would "know" Eirtaé.  
  
"Well, if you should by chance see my friend, tell her that her sister Sché sends her greetings and the One is still safe at the current residence," she watched the other carefully and finally managed to catch a flicker of recognition appear briefly before it disappeared once more. Well, she had done her best and if Eirtaé didn't respond now, than she never would.  
  
"If I see your friend, than she'll be in the Space Trader at 0900 tomorrow," Zena finally replied.  
  
Hiding her exaltation, Saché nodded and moved on, allowing herself to be swept away by a new partner.  
  
Tomorrow, at 0900, she'd meet with Eirtaé once more. 


	3. Rabé

Chapter 3- Rabé  
  
Rabé Nupola smiled as Padmé hugged the life out of her. The poor woman. She had to live here with Dormé and the two of them with next to no contact with the rest of the world.  
  
Smiling like a mad woman, Padmé finally stepped back. "You have no idea how glad I am to have you here, Rabé." She gestured for them all to take a seat. Once settled, she continued. "So how long have you been on planet?"  
  
"Well, I've been in the backroom for about an hour or so, so perhaps four hours?"  
  
"I suppose I can forgive you then for a prank like that. Now tell me, how's Naboo? More specifically, how are you and Sabé?" Padmé asked, leaning forward, a hungry look in her eyes.  
  
Rabé leaned back in her chair, her expression thoughtful. "Well, the planet's doing fine, considering. Sabé's the same as ever, joking around until seriousness is an absolute necessity. And me? Well, Gars," she paused, an uncustomary flush coming to her cheeks. Padmé looked encouragingly at her. "He proposed and we got married a couple years ago. Which reminds me,"  
  
Smiling, she stood up and quickly left the room. Going back to the room where she had come from, she smiled down at the sleeping girl there. Picking her up gently, she turned around and headed back out to the Outer Room. Blinking her eyes, the girl yawned and started to wake up.  
  
"Padmé, I'd like you to meet Katé, Gars' and my daughter."  
  
Padmé's mouth dropped open with shock. "You have a daughter? Congratulations! Wait why is she here? You know how dangerous it is, Rabé!"  
  
Katé blinked sleepily and glanced at Padmé out of the corner of her eye. "Mama, who's this? She looks like Aunt Sabé."  
  
"That's your Aunt Padmé, sweetie," Rabé glanced up quickly at her. "We've made all the handmaidens honorary aunts. Hope you don't mind the extra title."  
  
Padmé shook her head, a silent 'it's alright.' Rabé watched as her daughter clambered off her own lap and skipped across to Padmé. "You're really pretty Aunt Padmé? Mama's showed me holos of you before." She reached out her arms, an invitation to pick her up that was taken.  
  
"She did now, huh?"  
  
"Yup! Do you have any kids like me?"  
  
Rabé winced inwardly as she saw a pained expression briefly cross Padmé's face before disappearing. "Yes, I've got a son and I've got a daughter who are your age."  
  
Katé's mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. "You do? Really? What's her name?"  
  
Padmé smiled slightly. "Her name's Leia."  
  
Katé frowned slightly. "How come her name's not like ours?"  
  
Rabé hid a grin as Padmé looked over Katé's head questioningly at her. "It's the é," she mouthed silently, tracing the letter in the air.  
  
Padmé nodded. "Well, because she'd an Alderaanian princess so I decided to give her an Alderaanian name."  
  
"But Mama said you were queen of Naboo, not Al- Alda- Aldera- Alderaan!"  
  
Rabé chuckled inwardly at her daughter.. Well, she was raising the girl to be smart and watchful and everything that a handmaiden was if nothing else.  
  
"Well, she's living with another family now and that makes her a princess of Alderaan."  
  
Eyes still wide, Katé nodded slowly. "So she has two mommies and daddies?"  
  
Padmé titled her head to the right slightly, as if she were considering it. Another flash of pain crossed her face before disappearing. Rabé looked sharply over at Dormé, a question in her eyes. Dormé nodded slightly and mouthed 'later.' Rabé nodded in return.  
  
"I guess you could say that, Katé," Padmé answered slowly.  
  
Coming to a decision, Rabé stood up and scooped her daughter up. "That's enough questions for now, sweetie. You can talk to Aunt Padmé tomorrow."  
  
"Aww! But," a yawn, "Mama!"  
  
"She'll still be here tomorrow, Kay-Kay." Shifting her on to her hip, she smiled slightly at Padmé. "Dormé, could you show me the way to that room again?"  
  
Catching her drift, Dormé nodded. "Of course. I'll be back in a moment, Milady."  
  
The two women left the room, headed towards the back room. As soon as they were out of earshot, Dormé turned towards Rabé.  
  
"Why did you bring Katé to Alderaan, Rabé? It's dangerous here, it's why I commed you and Sabé."  
  
Rabé sighed and shifted the once more sleeping Katé to her other hip. "Because I thought that if Padmé could not be with her own children then a moment with my daughter might do her good."  
  
Dormé remained silent and nodded after a moment. "So you'll be alright while I'm gone?"  
  
Rabé chuckled and nodded. "I'll be fine, Dormé. I may not have been an active handmaiden for a few years, but I still remember how. Oh that reminds me, will you take Katé with you when you return to Naboo?"  
  
Dormé nodded. "Of course. I'm leaving at 0800 in two days."  
  
"Are you just bringing back Sabé? Or are more coming back here?"  
  
"So far, just her, but the more, the better. I was thinking of trying to find Yané, Saché, or Eirtaé, but I have no way of contacting them, not with out being caught at least.  
  
Rabé gently laid her daughter back down on the bed and turned to face Dormé once more. "None of us ever had the chance to teach you the code, did we?"  
  
The older handmaiden frowned slightly and shook her head. "Not that I can remember."  
  
"Well you tell me your message to Yané and I'll send it to her, and teach you the code and give you the comm frequencies later."  
  
"Sounds like a deal," she frowned slightly once more. "I can't believe I've never heard of this code before."  
  
"You weren't in our generation of handmaidens, young one. You came after us fabulous five," Rabé replied jokingly, smiling broadly. The two started to head back to Padmé.  
  
"Young one?" Dormé's tone was indignant. "I'm a full year older at least than the rest of you girls!"  
  
The two laughed as they reentered the room. Padmé looked up at the two laughing women.  
  
"What's so amusing?" she inquired.  
  
"Oh, nothing Milady, just comparing notes," Dormé said innocently.  
  
"And I still think that the Fabulous Five can take on the Terrific Three any day and win!" Rabé added mirthfully.  
  
"I'm sure you could, as the alive numbers are currently five to one," Dormé retorted, her tone a bit more sober now.  
  
Silence reigned for a few moments before Rabé finally said, "Come on Dormé, we'll teach you the code now. Maybe Padmé can help me."  
  
Padmé grinned, nodded and the two began to instruct Dormé on the handmaiden speaking codes. 


	4. Yané

**Chapter 4-**** Yane**   
  
Yané Tarok smiled and nodded her thanks as she accepted the glass of lomin ale from the man across from her. They clinked the tankards together and then each took a long sip from their glasses. She tucked her feet up underneath her legs and rested her head on her hand. The man smiled and laughed at her "innocent" pose.   
  
"What?" She demanded, her tone playful. The man simply shook his head and leaned across the table to plant a kiss on her forehead. Yané put on a mock pout and the man stood up and went to sit next to her, enfolding her in his arms.   
  
Sighing with contentment, she leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder. "I think that this is the only good thing about the Jedi Order becoming next to extinct."   
  
"Why's that, Yané?"   
  
"Because then we can be together, Obi-Wan."   
  
Obi-Wan Kenobi gave a bittersweet smile and drew back from her. "For as long as the Empire remains oblivious to our continuation of life."   
  
"Only two people know where we are Ben. Or at least Luke and I are."   
  
"But can we trust these two? If Vader finds out where I, Luke, Leia, or Amidala are-"   
  
"It's Sabé and Dormé, love. They are both like my sisters."   
  
He frowned slightly. "Dormé? Is she not the one who remains with Amidala?"   
  
"Yes."

"Are you sure that Amidala is still oblivious to Luke's location? If Vader finds her, love, and she tells him where Luke and Leia are-" his voice broke off. He didn't need to say any more. Both of them knew all too well what would happen to the four year old twins if their father found them.   
  
They sat in silence for a few moments before Yané said softly, "I trust Sabé and Dormé with my life and so does Padmé."   
  
His arms snaked around her waist and drew her to him once more. He kissed her gently on the lips, whispering softly to her, "I know my love, I know."   
  
She linked her arms around the Jedi's neck and smiled inwardly. Obi-Wan's arms tightened around her waist, drawing her to him. Their bodies pressed together, only separated by a few layers of clothing, the couple seized the initiative to deepen the kiss.   
  
When at last, they broke apart for air, Yané looked up at him coyly through fluttering lashes, the very image of an innocent young girl who's just received her first kiss.

Obi-Wan laughed and kissed her lightly on the nose and a hand came up to brush a few locks of hair that had come loose from her braid away from her face. He leaned down and kissed her once more. Any thoughts or worries that they had had before were gone now and replaced by thoughts only about each other.   
  
About five minutes later, they were rather rudely interrupted by a comlink beeping loudly at them. The "ring" was not the steady 'beep-beep-beep', but two slow ones, a pause, and then two quick ones.   
  
Reluctantly, they pulled away again, Yan's expression a bit confused. Freeing herself from his embrace, she frowned slightly as she recognized the ringer tone.   
  
She had prerigged her comm about ten years ago to beep like that if she was receiving a call from a fellow handmaiden or the then Queen of Naboo. And then, only if the person calling input a certain code before making the call.   
  
She picked the comlink up and flicked it on. "Handmaiden Yé."   
  
"Yé! It's your sister Ré calling from the current residence!"   
  
Yané smiled slightly as she recognized the slightly accented voice of her fellow handmaiden, Rabé Nuploa. What the older woman had just informed her was that it was indeed Rabé calling and that she was with Padmé on Alderaan.   
  
"Ré! Wonderful to talk to you again! I'm still at the old residence by the way."   
  
That meant she was still with Luke.   
  
"Oh, must be awfully dusty there. Anyways, our sister Dé says to meet her at the place where it all began in twins' lifedays."   
  
Translation: Meet Dormé on Naboo in four days.   
  
"Will Sé be there? And how is Pé by the way?"   
  
Meaning, will Sabé be there and is Padmé okay?   
  
"Yes to both sister. I've got to go now Yé. I'll see you soon; well hopefully. Ré out."   
  
Yané smiled faintly as she flipped the comlink off. She turned around to see Obi-Wan raising an eyebrow at her. She giggled as she realized how confusing that conversation must've sounded to one outside of their circle.   
  
"Could I have your fair lips translate perhaps, for my unworthy ears?" he asked.   
Yané stifled another giggle and nodded. "That was Rabé Nupola and she was calling from Alderaan, with Padmé I assume. She also passed on a message from Dormé to meet her at Sab's Lake Retreat house on Naboo in four days. In return, I informed her I was still around Luke and asked if Sabé would be there and if our Lady was okay and, as you heard, it was a yes to both questions."   
  
Obi-Wan's other eyebrow shot up to join its partner. "Quite some code you ladies have worked out."   
  
Yané shrugged slightly and took a sip from her tankard. "We take our lady's safety very seriously."   
  
The Jedi drew her back down to the couch and murmured into her ear, "Well, I'm glad you aren't so serious about everything."   
  
It didn't take a Master Yoda incarnate to figure out what that led to.

--

A/M: Again, my apologies for my stupid brain's mistakes.


	5. Dormé

**Chapter 5: Dorme**   
  
Dormé smiled as little Katé skipped along beside her as they headed towards Sab's Lakeside Retreat house. While she herself had never truly been there before, she had been to Padm's nearby one and had a decent idea of where the place was. The door opened as Dormé started up the path and Sabé came out.   
  
"Aunt Sabé!" Katé yanked her hand free from Dorm's grip and ran to Sabé.   
  
The woman bent down and there girl ran into her open arms. "So did you have a good time on Alderaan?"   
  
"Yeah! I got to meet Aunt Padmé! She looks a _ton_ like you! Are you twins?"   
  
Sabé laughed at her talkative niece. "No, she's just my really good friend who's like my sister, Kay-Kay."   
  
Dormé smiled faintly as she came up the path herself in a timelier manner. Sabé looked up as she came.   
  
"Dormé! It's wonderful to see you again. How have things been for you and Padmé?"   
  
"It's nice to see you again too, Sabé. And Milady's been doing alright I suppose, as well as you can do adding in what's happened to her,"   
  
Sabé nodded and gestured towards the house. "Well, let's get you settled and we can talk about this later."   
  
Dormé nodded and followed the slightly younger woman inside.   
  
"Kavin, Gars! Dormé here and she brought Kay-Kay back with her too!" Sabé said loudly as she walked into the kitchen.   
  
Dormé smiled in greeting to the two men sitting at a table in the kitchen and they nodded in return.   
  
"Nice to see you again, Dormé," Gars said. "Did my wife-" he left his sentence hanging.   
  
Dormé smiled again and reached into her pocket, pulling out two datacards. One she tossed to Gars and the other she passed to Sabé. "Rabé and Padmé recorded messages for you two."   
  
Gars nodded as he caught his message from Rabé and discreetly left the room to watch it. Sabé nodded as well as she took hers from Padmé and put it in her pocket.   
  
"I'll watch it later," Sabé said simply.   
  
Dormé nodded and took a seat even as Sabé did. At a glance from his wife, Kavin Hirota stood up, muttered some excuse about checking on Kellé and left hurriedly, taking Katé along with him.   
  
"What do you have on Vader's search so far?" Dormé asked her fellow handmaiden.   
  
Sabé took a long swig of caf before shrugging slightly, her face next to expressionless. "Not much. Eirtaé and Saché managed to send me occasional reports that consist of what information they know about once every month or five months," she frowned slightly, "I haven't heard from Saché in several months though, I'm a bit worried about her. She normally reports in every six weeks on the dot."   
  
Dorm's own expression became a frown. "Don't you have some way or method to contact her?"   
  
"Not one that I can be sure will go through to her. We have a system that I check every so often. It's a comm number on a far out planet, Kamino I think. We can leave messages for each other there."   
  
"What about Eirtaé?"   
  
"She sends communications through CorSec transmissions to the government here, coded of course."   
  
Dormé opened her mouth to ask another question before closing it abruptly with a slightly sheepish smile on her face. "Sorry, you're supposed to be in charge. I just get very concerned over Milady's safety."   
  
Sabé shook her head, dismissing Dorm's apology. "It's fine Dormé. It's good to know that someone's taking care of Padmé. You're giving up a lot for her and all of us so we can be with our families."   
  
Dormé felt a slight flush come to her face before it disappeared a moment later behind her blank handmaiden mask. "Yané gives up just as much as I do, if not more. She's on that horrible desert world of Tatooine; I've at least got Alderaan to live on and Milady to talk to."   
  
Sabé nodded and looked as if she were about to say something but had thought better of it. They sat there silently for a few minutes, the quiet only being punctured occasionally by Kat's laugh at some game or other that Gars was playing with her. Finally, Dormé decided to break the quiet.   
  
"How have Jan and little Elsié been?" she asked. Jan Vorsay had been the husband of Versé Vorsay, Dorm's fellow handmaiden who had been killed, along with Cordé in an explosion meant for the Senator Amidala. Elsié, Vers's daughter, had been one at the time and therefore had never known her mother. Jan had become severely depressed at his wife's death and so the other handmaidens had taken it upon themselves to care for their fallen sister's family.   
  
Sabé seemed to take a moment to think before replying. "Elsi's fine, a typical seven year old; happy, cheerful, energetic. Han, well he's still the same as he was four years ago. But I don't think-"   
  
"That we should be talking about it right now, we should be talking about Milady," Dormé finished for her.   
  
"Exactly." Sabé said nodding. "Let me brief you on what Rabé and myself have been doing here on Naboo then."   
  
Dormé nodded and sat back to listen to the senior handmaiden's tale.   
  
"You know all the basics I'm sure, so I won't bore you with them. Vader's still got that bounty on Padm's head and we get more than our fair share of bounty hunters here. When we do get word of an attack, I become Padmé and Rabé treats me as so." She frowned slightly. "We did run into trouble a year ago though when I was pregnant with Kellé, but we managed to bluff our way through those last five months. Through Eirtaé and Saché, we managed to set enough false leads on worlds such as Kuat, Corellia, Corus- Imperial Center, Thyferra, and so on to keep Padm's searchers running around like reeks with their heads cut off. Although I doubt that we could fool Darth Vader or the Emperor, I think that Rabé and I should be more than able to fool anyone the Empire can send against us. Luckily, the new Queen is sympathetic to our cause and so she turns a blind to us, much like the rest of Naboo. There is no love for the Empire here, not since we managed to 'accidentally' leak the fact to the planet that Vader is trying to kill Amidala."   
  
Dormé nodded and let a smile peak through her handmaiden mask. "Oh so that did work after all. That was a good idea of Sach's."   
  
Sabé nodded as well. "Yes, I think she's got a very good grip on how the public's minds will react to something and she doesn't let it interfere with how she actually thinks."   
  
Silence reigned again for another few minutes, Dormé absorbing, processing, and filing away the information she'd just received from Sabé away in her brain and Sabé herself played with the datacard which held Padm's message. After a few more minutes, Sabé rose to her feet.   
  
"I'm going to go watch this then," she said calmly, "If you need anything, just ask Kavin or Gars."   
  
"Alright," Dormé replied, "But I think that I'll just look over that information you've got. It never hurts to be prepared."   
  
Getting a general direction towards what Sabé jokingly referred to as her "jail cell of information," Dormé came to a halt in front of the only door in the house, or what she'd seen so far of it, to have a keypad lock. Glancing down at the scrap of paper she held, she punched in the five digit code and waiting a moment before the door hissed open.   
  
Taking one last glance around, she stepped inside and almost at once, became absorbed in the surplus of information that was stored there and did not emerge for several hours, staying well past midnight.


	6. Eirtaé

ATTENTION! Everyone, please go back to hcapter 4, and read that, because I accidentalyl forgot to upload Chapter 4, and instead I just uploaded Chapter 5. Apologies about that.

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**Chapter 6: Eirtae**

Eirtaé Bukoro smiled slightly to herself as she swung her legs around off her bed and pulled a lightweight robe around her shoulders. Last night's guard duty had been tedious but the events after between her and Hal had been much much more… entertaining. As she dressed silently, she thought back over the last seven years. She'd originally only joined CorSec to help aid the Jedi, first just as a simple military support and then as a person who helped hide the Jedi. But something she hadn't expected to happen that happened was that she'd fallen in love with one of the Jedi.

Hal Horn, formerly Valin Halcyon, had joined CorSec the same year that she had. Interestingly enough, she had already been going by the name of Hal Horn even though he didn't truly become Hal for another three years. From the vague answers she had received, she gathered that he'd been Hal Horn as a test of some sorts at his undercover work.

But that didn't matter now, she thought as she pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail. Last night at the Emperor's banquet, she had discreetly talked to Saché and arranged to meet her at the local bar called the Space Trader. She'd have to pull a few strings to keep her boss from noticing that she was gone, but she'd manage somehow.

She glanced at the chrono, it was 0700. She smiled slightly as she looked over at Hal's still sleeping form. Moving quietly, she made her way over towards the bed and taped him on the shoulder.

"Wake up flyboy," she said, a grin on her face. In response, Hal merely groaned and rolled slightly on his side. "Hal, the smugglers are getting away with their cargo!" Eirtaé said loudly.

"What?" Hal asked as he sat bolt upright. "Smugglers? Getting away? Where?"

Eirtaé grinned and broke out into laughter at the confused expression on his face. "There aren't any smugglers, Hal."

He pulled her close to him and said quietly in her ear, "Look's like I found my smuggler right here."

"Oh?" she murmured back, "And what am I accused of smuggling, sir?"

"My heart of course, you horrid fiend!" Hal proclaimed as he pulled her head down towards his and kissed her lingeringly on the lips.

Eirtaé found herself so caught up in the kiss that when at last she forced herself to pull away for air, she had no recollection of how she'd ended up sitting on the edge of the bed next to Hal. "We've got work in an hour."

"We can be a bit late."

As tempted as she was to stay there, Eirtaé forced herself to pull away from her boyfriend and stand up. "We can't and anyways, I'm going to need you to cover for me for an hour or so."

Frowning slightly as he got out of bed himself and started to get dressed, Hal asked, "Why? Is it because of that woman you saw last night, Salla Tarrai or whatever her name was?"

"Actually, it's Saché Obaro; Salla Tarrai's just her undercover name. She's one of my fellow handmaidens."

"Don't you mean ex-handmaiden, Zena?"

Eirtaé smiled wryly. "Once a handmaiden, always a handmaiden. Anyways, yes, it is Saché that I'm meeting."

Hal nodded as he pulled on his shirt. "Alright, I'll cover for you while you go meet your friend."

Grinning, she kissed him quickly on the lips. "Thanks Hal."

"Anytime Zena."

True to his word, Hal arranged to make it appear that Eirtaé was still on duty even though she was at the local bar, Space Trader.

At about five minute before the appointed time, Eirtaé pushed open the cantina's door and looked around briefly before heading towards a small table in the back.

"Yeh want anything, Jess?" The bartender asked her.

"Sure, give me the usual, Geran," she replied. Inwardly, she hid a grin. Ever since she'd come to Corellia and joined CorSec, she'd come here every week or so to get a drink and have some serious Down Time and soon became dearly loved once and Hal had been assigned as partners once graduating from the Academy and moved up a bit through the ranks of CorSec. Since the Space Trader was considered to be a bar for the slightly more suspicious type, she and Hal had always gone by "Jessa Ranez" and "Rane Tilven;" names that they had more or less just picked out of midair the first time they'd walked into the bar.

Moments later, Geran came over and deposited a tankard of Lomin ale in front of her. Reaching into her pants pocket, she pulled out a few credits, handing over a few more than the usual cost of the drink saying, "I have a friend coming and I'd appreciate some privacy since we need to talk."

The man nodded and pocketed the extra credits. "You go it, Jessa."

"Thanks Geran," Eirtaé replied with a grin, taking a sip of her Lomin ale. Exactly at 0900, the door swung open once again and a cloaked figure walked in. Eirtaé hid a grin behind a hand and waved the person over. Even with a cloak, Saché still couldn't hide that little swing to her step. Saché sat down and pushed her hood back, a slightly nervous expression on her face.

"I don't know how long I can stay," she said softly, "But anyways, how are you and what am I supposed to call you, Eirtaé?"

Eirtaé smiled seeing that the years hadn't taken away her friend's enthusiasm and cheerful manner. "Well, Eirta's a no, Zena Denes is an even bigger no since she's CorSec and this is a smugglers' bar, so call me Jess or Jessa; it's what I go by around here. What about for you?"

"Saché for now and don't you dare say a word about my hair," she said, seeing the amused look on Eirta's face.

"Red really isn't your color, Saché. You want a drink?"

"Too early in the morning for me, but thanks."

"Okay. So what are you doing in Palpatine's court?" Eirtaé queried her friend.

Saché glanced around, looking for listeners, before replying, "I'm spying for the Senator from Chandrila."

"The woman? Mon Mothma?"

"Yes, her. I need your help to send this into Sabé."

"Wait," Eirtaé said with a frown, "You report to Sabé too?"

"A report every six weeks that includes some information that didn't stay in my report to the Senator attached," the younger woman grinned wickedly, "A girl has to have some secrets after all. Well, a girl and her sisters."

Eirtaé rolled her eyes and grinned as she reached into her black flightsuit pocket and pulled out a datacard which she passed across the table. "Look, if you ever need anything, or you need to contact me, all the information's on that datacard. If you can't get a hold of me through any of those ways, there's another number on there, Rostek Horn-"

"Horn," Saché interrupted, "Isn't that the name of the man you were with last night?'

Eirtaé felt a slight blush come to her face. That wording could be interpreted several different ways and one of them she considered to be very private. "Yes, Hal Horn's my partner in CorSec and Rostek's his father. But anyways, if you give your message or whatever to him, it'll make its way pretty darn quickly to me."

She nodded again and pocketed the datacard and then tossed one of her own across to Eirtaé. "Alright, thanks. I need you to send this to Sabé for me because my old line of communication has been-" she paused for a moment before continuing with, "Blocked."

The blonde woman nodded and pocketed the card, making a mental note to remember to remove it again when she changed back into her CorSec uniform. And then it hit her and she stopped in mid movement. "Wait, what do you mean, 'blocked?' "

Saché bit her lip nervously, her blue eyes darting around the room suspiciously. "I can't say."

Eirtaé frowned slightly as they both stood up and she grabbed the bag which contained her uniform from the chair that it had been sitting on. "You've changed, Saché, you've changed a lot."

"Don't we all?" the brunette replied with a weak grin.

Still frowning, she lightly grabbed her "sister's" arm and led her out of the bar, flipping another credit to Geran as she did. Her thoughts before had been wrong. Saché was the cheerful, optimistic, fearless, party girl anymore, but instead a spy who's too professional to show when they're scared. "Come on," she said once they were well past the door. "We're going to stop somewhere so I can change back into my uniform and I'll escort you back to where the Emperor's Court is staying."

Ignoring her protests, Eirtaé led Saché to a much more nicer and civilized bar and back towards the refresher. Going into one of the stalls, the older and taller woman talked as she changed. "If they question you as to why you have an escort back, a smuggler type startled you and I offered to safely see you back to your destination. Got it?"

Saché rolled her eyes and removed her red wig, shaking her head slightly so her own, natural brown hair came tumbling down. "Zena, I'll be perfectly fine, trust me. Besides, this would work better if your partner Hal was here instead." Her tone suddenly became playful. "What's going on between you two anyways?"

Emerging back out from the stall, straightening her uniform as she did, Eirtaé felt a faint blush come to her face once more. "None of your business."

"Oh come on, you know you want to tell me!" Saché said teasingly. "How serious is it?"

She hesitated for a moment, memories of the events of three years ago on Tatooine flashing back through her head, becoming fresh in her memory once more. "It's pretty serious I guess, but it's still none of your business."

Saché hid a giggle behind a hand as she led the way out. "You're as obstinate as ever, Zena, if not more so."

"Living on Corellia for seven years can do that to you," Eirtaé admitted with a nod, her tone a bit dry.

They continued to chat as they made their way back up towards the more upper class and social part of Corellia, every so often being greeted by someone that they, for the most part Eirtaé, knew, though the greeter didn't always use a name or a cover name that was known to the other.

As they neared the gates into the building reserved for the Emperor's entourage, Eirtaé grabbed the other's arm, turning her towards her suddenly. "If anything, and I mean anything, goes wrong, contact me and I'll be that as quickly as I possibly can. Use the code and all though."

"If my cover's blown, I'm not going to risk blowing yours just to save my own ass," Saché replied calmly. "Besides, you've got a nice life now, Zena. I'm not going to be the one who spoils it for you."

"No, the Empire will do that for you. But screw my cover, I don't want another one of my sisters killed," she replied firmly.

Saché shook her head sadly. 'Starting to sound more and more like Dormé and Rabé every day, Zena.' She glanced over towards the gate guard and then back at Eirtaé. "Alright, thanks. I'll see you around."

"See you around," Eirtaé echoed, watching as Saché pulled herself up, becoming Salla Tarrai and flouncing over towards the gate.

Ten minutes later, Eirtaé arrived back at CorSec Headquarters, panting slightly as she had run most of the way back. Hal glanced up at her as she slid into her chair, the door closing behind her.

"Did your meeting go well?" He asked.

"Pretty well, I guess. Did anyone notice I was gone?" She replied as she began to sort through the papers on her desk, not looking up.

"If they did, than they forgot it rather quickly," his voice murmured in her ear as a set of strong arms wrapped around her from the back just as she stood up once more.

She rotated 180 degrees so she was facing him. "Well, that's nice to know. I need to talk to your father though."

"Later," he said, kissing her gently on the lips.

"Later," she agreed, returning the kiss almost as eagerly, more as if they had been apart for days, not a mere hour.

Things would've gone much farther from there if someone hadn't knocked and then opened the door, causing Hal and Eirtaé to spring apart and go back to work like they should've been. _Sometimes,_ Eirtaé though, _having your CorSec partner for your boyfriend is not always the best of ideas._


	7. Sabé

**Chapter 7: Sabé**

Sabé Mabarrie-Hirota kept her face emotionless as she kissed her husband Kavin lightly on the cheek. "We'll be done as soon as we can, but don't worry if we're gone awhile."

"I won't," he replied reassuringly. "But it's okay to let Gars and me sit in on some of these meetings. We can take care of ourselves after all and we're worried about you two."

"Relax, it's just intelligence," the woman replied, cutting him off by covering his mouth with a hand. "I knew what I was signing up for when I took this job."

Smiling at Kavin, she removed her hand from his mouth and walked briskly towards the hidden conference room, pausing briefly to punch in the access code. As the doors hissed open, the two other brunettes inside turned towards her, faces expressionless as her own.

Dormé nodded in greeting, but the other remained motionless. Inwardly, Sabé frowned. Yané had never been the most outgoing person, but this quiet was just too… quiet for her. If anything, the younger woman looked a bit homesick but that wasn't possible, they were on Naboo… Unless that meant…

Shoving her thoughts aside for the moment, she slid into her seat and picked up her papers. "Well, let's get this started then, shall we. Dormé, did you want to start?"

The older woman nodded and turned slightly to face Yané since she was the one this was mostly directed to as Sabé had been told much of it two nights ago. "I don't know if you noticed out where you are, but the searches for Milady have increased in both size and frequency along with becoming more urgent recently. Bail Organa's doing everything he can to direct searches away from the current residence, but I feel that one day, whether in the near future or in several years, a search group will find Milady and when they do, I will be unable to protect her on my own."

"Wait," Yané interrupted, "Who's with Padmé now then?"

"Rabé is until Dormé returns from here," Sabé answered.

Nodding in understanding, Yané mouthed a 'go on' to Dormé before returning to leaning back and away from the table.

"I've already discussed this with Milady and she wasn't too happy, seeing how I almost forced her decision on some of this. She did, however, make it clear that she does not want Captain Panaka involved, but I think alerting him to the danger would be a smart move. Now, I know that all the handmaidens, except for me, actually have lives, and I have to have to ask this, but Milady needs protection from her handmaidens, people she already knows and can trust.

Reaching the end of her mini speech, Dormé fell back into her habitual silence. Sabé shifted her gaze slightly to watch Yané's face, but she might've well have looked at a stone wall for all the good it did her.

"How many of us can go to protect her?" Yané asked calmly.

"Dormé, Rabé, and myself for certain," Sabé replied as she mentally ran through the list of remaining handmaidens.

"No, you're needed here on Naboo," the quiet woman interjected. "I'll go instead."

Sabé did a double take as she heard her friend say that. "Yané, are you sure? I know that on Tatooine-"

"What's happening or what's happened on Tatooine is not important right now," Yané interrupted again. "Ben can watch over Luke for a little while."

"Ben?" Dormé asked curiously. "Who's Ben?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, I'm sure you remember him, he was Anakin's old Jedi Master," Sabé told the other.

"Ah, yes, I remember now, I met him back on Coruscaunt a few years ago," Dormé recalled. "Is there no way for us to get in better communication with Eirtaé and Saché?"

"Even if we could, they'd be unable to leave their posts, and I need them there if we are to continue to gain new intelligence," Sabé countered swiftly.

"Our numbers are most definitely declining," Dormé said dryly. "There's no longer a score of us here to protect Milady."

"Just half a dozen," Yané finished a bit glumly.

"Oh come on, girls, let's not lose hope quite yet," Sabé scolded them gently. "Now, any ideas on any other forms of security for Padmé that we can trust?"

There was silence around the table for a few moments before Yané turned her blue eyes upwards from their study of the wood grain to look Sabé straight in the eye. "I have an idea, but I do not know if it would work or not."

"What is it?"

"Bring Padmé to Tatooine where Obi-Wan can be there to guard her as well."

"No!" Dormé objected strenuously. "No, it's too risky, that's the first place they'll look for her besides Naboo."

"Not really," Yané answered. "Not many people know that Anakin came from Tatooine, except for the Jedi that is. If we can hide her there safely and successfully, they'll never find her!"

"But isn't Luke already there?" Dormé protested. "I don't think it's wise to have here on the same planet as her son."

"She's been living on the same planet as Leia for the past 3 years," Yané argued, "I don't really see the difference."

"He knows about Luke, not Leia, and we're trying to keep it that way, not to mention we're trying to keep them separated so that Luke is not found by either Vader or the Emperor!"

"Enough!" Sabé finally interjected. Mouths open, ready to argue their sides further, both Dormé and Yané shut them and sat back in their chairs, deferring to the senior handmaiden. "The idea has merits and faults, we'll consider it. But I think what might be best for now is for us handmaidens to protect Padmé, just as we always have, and not put it in the hands of another, save Captain Panaka."

Both women nodded in understanding and Sabé nodded in satisfaction. "Good, now then-"

She was cut off by the sound of a comcenter beaping, signaling an arriving message. "Excuse me for a moment," she said, gracefully hurrying over. It was a priority signal, on a line that only the handmaidens used. This might mean trouble.

Keying the comunit to play, she had to wait only a few moments before the air resolved into the image of one she had not seen in many a year and apparently, the conditions upon which the call was being made were not good ones.

"Force! What's wrong?" she exclaimed. Mere milliseconds later, the comunit went off again. Dormé rose quickly to answer the second call and another worried face filled with the display. Two of her sisters were very distressed and she was about to find out why.


End file.
